The blog of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders

Category Archives: Freelance life

Freelance editors work with a range of clients, including publishers and individuals looking to publish their own work. This month, the SfEP parliament of wise owls provide advice on how to get the most from working with independent authors.

Independent authors might not know as much about the ideal publishing process or typical editing workflows as some other clients. Be prepared to take more of a lead in helping them assess what they need, and explaining your services so they understand how you can help them and the value you offer. This can be interesting and rewarding work, but make sure you factor in the extra hand-holding time when you quote, and bear in mind that commonly understood labels for levels of editing won’t necessarily apply. You also have a responsibility: it’s fine to upsell your services, but make sure the author understands what you can actually provide as their editor – and what you can’t. Brilliant proofreading will never turn a badly written or boring book into a bestseller.

Carefully explain exactly what service you will provide and always, always get authors to sign a contract (or agree to a set of terms and conditions). Independent authors are likely to have varying degrees of familiarity with ‘standard’ working practices in publishing, so it’s important to be clear about the terms of the service you’re providing. It’s rare for relations between client and editor to sour such that legal action becomes a possibility, but a quick perusal of some of the major editing-related forums shows that it does happen, so it makes sense to take basic precautions. The SfEP has a set of model terms and conditions and there are various sample contracts available through other sites.

Working with independent authors can involve more hand-holding about the publishing process. Some will have done lots of research, joined supportive writers’ groups, become a member of ALLi, sussed out exactly which Amazon deal to go for and come to you knowing exactly what they need you to do. But more often than not (in my experience) they don’t. This is not necessarily a bad thing: they may have the makings of a pretty good book or document, but just not know how to get to the final output. It can be very rewarding helping an author through the various steps to publication.

Communication is crucial here. Authors may not ask for what their work actually needs (they usually ask for proofreading), so you need to be very clear from the start about what you can do, what you will do – and what you can’t or won’t. Some authors will keep coming back to you with lots of questions, not just about the text but about the publishing process itself. Do I need an ISBN for my ebook as well as the print one? Where can I find a cover designer? I’m listing my book on Amazon but it’s asking me about BISAC categories and DRM options – what do I put? It’s worth knowing the answers yourself or building up a bank of stock replies with useful links to where your authors can find out. Or, of course, pointing them to SfEP colleagues or the Directory for other services.

Set up good working practices that put you in control, with clear instructions on how the author can see your changes, accept them if required, make further edits or add text. Because there is no intermediary, the author must answer all queries and take all decisions. Inevitably there is a great temptation to keep on tinkering with the text. If you’re not careful, you may find yourself having to deal with changes made in different ways in different files. State clearly how much time is included in the fee for taking in amendments after you return the initial edit (from none to negotiating a further fee if it goes over X). And always cost in a second pass anyway.

Novice independent authors are unlikely to be speaking the same language as you – so it’s absolutely essential to ensure that you understand each other. It’s not enough to agree a brief; you’ll need to make sure that your client actually understands what it means in practice. What do they mean by ‘proofreading’? Probably copy-editing, sometimes developmental editing. Sometimes proofreading! How will they take your critique or queries? As if you tortured and murdered their literary baby, or as help towards making that self-same baby ready to meet the world? Explain your process in lay terms and check your client has understood. A mismatch between their expectation and your actuality can be painful and time-consuming.

When working with independent authors, the initial negotiations are key to establishing a mutual understanding of what will be involved because you can’t assume they will know the different terms we editors use and what they entail. I prefer to show as well as explain, and I usually edit a short sample so they know what to expect from me. How the person conducts themselves in these first interactions is also a clue to what they will be like to work with, and it’s sometimes possible to spot a red flag and steer away if need be.

Which brings me on to one potential downside of working with independent authors: it’s harder to verify an individual. If a publisher or a company contacts you, it is relatively easy to check them out to see if they are a legitimate enterprise and to form a judgement about whether it is ‘safe’ to work with them. This is more tricky with an independent author. They might have an author page or a Facebook profile, but many don’t, and there is really no way of assuring yourself that they are who they say they are and that you will be paid. To guard against this to some extent, I ask for a proportion of the total estimated fee in advance. In fact, I’ve found that, in any case, it’s good to be flexible about payment arrangements. An indie author may not have the funds to pay the whole fee at once, and offering payment in instalments helps ease the pain for them. All that said, in my experience, independent authors pay quickly and happily.

Indie authors have been a source of constant surprise and pleasure, chocolates, flowers, and personalised drawings, and even a few gardening tips. I love ’em!

BookMachine’s Laura Summers introduces their latest white paper, which talks about how editorial managers can tap into the vast pool of freelance editorial professionals.

Navigating the freelance talent pool

The SfEP directory is a great example of the scale and importance of freelancing and outsourcing work in the publishing industry today. Browsing through the listings gives such an insight into the scale and breadth of professionals all over the country. Everyone on the list is working in publishing; but aside from the moonlighters, most are editing away, far from the confines of a London- or Oxford-based publishing house.

Over the past six years, the BookMachine team have noticed a definite increase in the numbers of freelancers attending events. This might be due to the inclusivity of the community, and that those working outside a traditional publishing company have more company events to attend and aren’t looking to build their network in the same way that those running a small business are. However, we suspect that it is more than that. We think that the freelance talent pool is growing, due to increasing demands for publishers to work on more complex projects with tighter turnaround times and often increased volumes. The need for out-of-house support has never been greater.

With this in mind, working on behalf of Just Content, we produced a new white paper for the publishing industry with vital information and advice on tapping into the freelance talent pool.

It is aimed at editorial managers, though it caters to anyone involved in conducting team projects within publishing. Which is everyone really.

With evidence that the freelance market is expanding both within and outside of publishing, the white paper is a timely reminder of how we can all work together harmoniously.

Laura Summers is co-founder of BookMachine – the community for people who make publishing happen. As well as organising events for the industry, BookMachine manage an online network of professionals sharing advice and knowledge. Laura and her team are also available to manage events, business development and marketing projects for small and mid-sized publishers.

January is an ideal time to reflect on your freelance goals and identify new ways to promote your editorial business. In their latest blog post, the wise owls provide advice on how to build your business in the new year.

‘Marketing’ can seem like an intimidating concept, far removed from our usual work as editors, so it can help to think of it in terms of things we can do a little of every day, or every week, rather than a separate task. For me, it’s about keeping myself ‘out there’ in people’s minds – existing clients, clients I would like to attract, and also colleagues who might recommend me. I do this across a range of channels: through my regular interactions with clients (I am quick to respond, helpful and polite); by making contact with potential new clients (by my presence in online directories like the SfEP Directory, LinkedIn or social media, or by targeted emails); and by keeping engaged with what’s going on with my colleagues (via the SfEP forums or other online groups, chipping in when I have something helpful to contribute). I blog too, and it all adds up to what I hope is a positive and helpful online presence, with the overall professional image I want to project.

I don’t do all of these things every day or very aggressively, but rather little and often – the effect is that my marketing builds up to a useful level without my having to put in a massive one-off effort. Having said that, one of my tasks for 2017 is to undertake a more targeted direct marketing experiment, with the aim of achieving specific measurable results for my editorial business.

An SfEP directory entry is a great place to start if you don’t have one yet. It’s included in the subscription cost for Professional and Advanced Professional members and we can now edit our own entries – a great way to add in that new software you’ve got to grips with, or include that new client you’re excited about working with. Put a link to your entry in your email signature and it’s like a taster CV for potential clients.

Once that’s sorted, get talking. Make connections. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, this is easier than it’s ever been before. Get talking on social media, through forums, in groups on LinkedIn. Treat people as respected peers, whatever their role, and see what happens. Create relationships – some people may become clients; others could end up being your rock when times are tough. As freelancers, we need both.

Marketing your business is much more than sending emails or making calls, or even writing a blog or ‘doing’ social media, it’s how you present yourself in all outward-facing situations, and it’s probably unconscious. Wherever you interact – in forums, on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, on your blog, or even face to face – you are expressing your personality and values and, by extension, those of your business. Be courteous, knowledgeable and helpful and, if it suits you, witty or provocative. Ask and answer questions, sympathise and laugh with others, share useful information and stories. Above all, be yourself, and people will notice you for the right reasons. Not all of them will ever want to use your services, but it only takes one… and you may even have some fun in the process.

If you are marketing then, let’s face it, you are selling something. But what is it, and why would people want to buy it?

‘I’d like you to buy my whatsit. I’m not quite sure what it’s made of, or whether it’s the whatsit you really need … and I haven’t made many whatsits yet, so it might not be as good as other whatsits … but I really need to sell some … please!

No thanks. You’ll know, if you’ve done an internet search for proofreading or copy-editing services, that the competition is fierce. So, imagine the task for an author, business or organisation looking to hire someone. It can be pretty hard to know who to pick. You therefore need to stand out. Hopefully that will be because potential clients can quickly see that what you are selling is just what they need, and that you’re qualified to do the job, making it an easy decision to send an enquiry.

You’ll therefore need to take time to work out what it is you do have to offer, what makes you a good person to offer it, and then find the right words to explain that to others. And the right words will depend on who you are trying to reach. Think laterally – what skills and talents have you built up, in work and in your personal life, that will make you better at doing what you do now?

Some general thoughts:

If you’re just starting out, don’t try to offer too much, or more than you have been trained in. Focus on what you know you can deliver professionally and competently.

Get the proper training (e.g. from the SfEP or the PTC) and then advertise it prominently, along with your SfEP member logo of course.

As soon as you can, get meaningful client testimonials. Whenever you return a job, include a feedback sheet or ask permission to use nice things clients have said about your work in emails.

Regularly review your sales offering – is it clear, does it stand out, have you added skills or training?

The Northern Ireland local group was established in 2011, the first time there has ever been an SfEP group in Northern Ireland. Our founder and coordinator is Averill Buchanan.

Belfast meetings are typically informal events held in cafes in the centre of Belfast, the benefit of which is that cakes and pastries are readily available! There’s usually six or so members at any one meeting, and with no fixed agenda everyone gets the opportunity to talk about the issues that are important to them. It’s also a chance for new SfEP members to meet more established members to ask questions about things they may be struggling with in their work and careers. But it’s not just a chance for us to network professionally. Many firm friendships have been established over the years since the first meeting.

The experiences of members vary widely. Between us we cover lots of different specialisms – business writing, educational texts, fiction, music, student theses – and within those areas there’s a mix of skills – project management, developmental editing, copy-editing and proofreading, as well as book design, formatting and typesetting. We’re really quite a mixed bunch!

Better together

Our presence at a local level has grown considerably since 2011, and we are now invited to local publishing events. Earlier this year we had a stand at a local publishing fair in the Linen Hall Library in Belfast where we stood alongside publishers and other professionals in Northern Ireland. This enabled us to spread the word about the SfEP, and offered us a great chance to network.

We also have our own website (www.epani.org.uk) and Twitter account (@epa_ni), which helps to market our members’ services in Northern Ireland. We have more clout working collectively to win new clients. Indeed, earlier this year, several members got together to bid on a big local government project that would have been beyond the reach of any one individual.

Three local group members made the trip to the SfEP’s annual conference in Birmingham in 2016. We spent some time at the September local group meeting talking about the conference and encouraging others to consider going next year. We had thirteen people at that meeting, including three first-timers – a record number for a group meeting. We drew names out of a hat to give away the fabulous Cult Pen goodie bag from the conference.

We’ve just had our annual Christmas lunch, always a popular event, with thirteen attendees. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours eating, chatting and drinking a very welcome glass of prosecco bought by a member who couldn’t join us in person – thanks, Mike!

If you’re based in Northern Ireland, or if you’re an SfEP member visiting Belfast, you’d be very welcome to join us at our next meeting. Contact Victoria Woodside (victoriawoodside@me.com) for more information.

Victoria Woodside is enjoying her second career working as a freelance editor and proofreader in between caring for her four little people. She likes nothing better than a roaring fire and a glass of red on these cold winter nights. You can find her at www.proofreaderni.com, on Facebook as ProofreaderNI or on Twitter @vicproofreader.

We all know that the SfEP exists to uphold editorial excellence. It does this through a membership structure that encourages all members to develop and hone their skills, and by running a strong programme of training and mentoring to support this. But the Society also exists for and through its members, a network of individuals from all sorts of backgrounds and doing many kinds of editorial work – our community of editorial professionals.

So, what makes us a community?

As community director, I’d say it involves sharing certain values and responsibilities. Our values include striving to be the best proofreaders and editors we can be. Our responsibilities (alongside delivering skilled and professional services to our clients, of course) include helping each other live up to those values, supporting those new to our profession and sharing experience among ourselves to enable us all to be successful.

But how do we provide that mutual support in a profession where many of us work at home or in relative isolation, and with members all over the world, including some in remote locations? Well, the SfEP has a number of activities and resources that help foster a sense of community. Some involve meeting face to face, while others use the internet to shrink the distance between us.

Meeting in person: local groups

The SfEP has 38 local groups throughout the United Kingdom, all organised by volunteer coordinators. Groups hold regular meetings, usually in an informal setting, and often, I’ve noticed, involving food and drink. What each group does varies, but all the events provide opportunities to pass on knowledge and to network.

“While [training] was excellent and really helped me develop best practice… it was the friendly exchanges with others in the local group, the chance to swap experiences, ask questions and share frustrations… that made all the difference to me wanting to keep going. There’s nothing quite like mutual support!”

Those who don’t yet belong to the Society can attend up to three local meetings. A number of people have commented that being able to ‘try before you buy’ like this helped them decide whether editing was right for them.

And for those who are remotely located, either within the UK or abroad, there’s always our Skype club, which ‘e-meets’ every month.

Meeting en masse: the conference

Our annual conference provides many stimulating and educational sessions, as well as plenty of opportunities for networking. However nervous people may feel about attending a big event like this, they always seem to go away with a smile on their face, having made new friends, and fired up with enthusiasm to put into practice everything they have learned.

The theme of this year’s conference is Context is key: Why the answer to most questions is ‘It depends’. You’ll be hearing much more about this before booking opens in March, so I won’t steal our conference director’s thunder. In the meantime, we have a number of blog posts that give a flavour of how people feel about attending conference.

The forums: an online watercooler

For times when we can’t meet face to face, the forums are a vital part of the SfEP community. Run by our internet director and his web content editors, and assisted in the day-to-day management by a team of voluntary moderators, the forums are a bit like an online watercooler, where members from all over the world talk about all things editorial, and some things non-editorial.

It’s here where the community spirit is perhaps most evident, with members sharing their experience and expertise on all things from getting started in proofreading and editing to advanced Word wrangling, to that knotty punctuation or grammar question. New members are always given a warm welcome, and more experienced members are generous with their advice and support.

Extending our community: blog and social media

Blog

This, our blog, is where we reach out beyond our community to show our face to the outside world. Tracey Roberts, another volunteer, coordinates it all and we aim to provide a range of interesting and entertaining content relevant to professional editors and proofreaders and anyone who uses editors and proofreaders. And – in exciting news – this has recently been recognised as we heard last week that the SfEP blog has made it through to the final eight of the UK Blog Awards 2017. The winners will be announced on Friday 21 April 2017, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

We are already putting together some great ideas for posts over the coming months, including tips on building your business for the new year, and editing and writing fiction, to coincide with National Storytelling Week at the beginning of February.

But what would you like to see here? Do let us know what types of posts you enjoy and find most useful, or if there’s a subject you’d like to see discussed here.

Social media

As you may know, the SfEP has been increasing its social media presence. This helps raise our profile and allows us to attract more members, enabling us to grow and extend what we can do for our community. Thanks to our splendid team of social media volunteers, every day we keep people informed about what the SfEP is doing as well as posting stimulating content related to editing, publishing and freelancing more generally. And we are increasingly engaging directly with members and non-members, spreading the word… and the love.

And finally… huge thanks to all our community volunteers!

You may have noticed a theme running through everything I’ve talked about here, and that is the huge contribution that is made by our volunteers. Without them, many of the SfEP’s community activities simply could not take place. So I’d like to end by saying a big thank you to every single person who puts their time and energy into making the SfEP what it is – a welcoming, supportive community of editorial professionals.

Eleanor Parkinson, one of our newer members, summed up the essence of the SfEP community spirit in a recent post on our Newbies forum:

“I don’t believe I have ever come across a professional organisation that provides as much practical, real-life help to people trying to get started in that industry.”

Every year is the year you are going to be your best. Each and every January you vow to make amends and to take your business to new heights. This year, 2017, will be different. Below we have listed 8 ways that you can make it happen this year. With things you can do from the sofa to ways you can expand your current business pipeline – this handy list from BookMachine is all you need.

1. Social media

Successful business owners are not on social media all day long. However, they do know how to use it to their benefit. Allocate a set amount each day to interact with your followers. Share relevant news, and be interested as well as interesting. Set up lists of your key prospects and contacts and head directly to these lists each time you log on, rather than losing hours with mindless online chatter with everyone on Twitter.

2. Re-assess your rate card

If you have been freelance for a while, chances are you have a fixed rate you have been working to for some time. A new year is the perfect time to re-assess this. Are you earning as much as you would like? Could you charge a higher hourly rate? If this isn’t possible, think about your payment terms or your charges for late delivery and payment – there are many ways you can turn your business up a notch whilst working with an existing client base.

3. Contact everyone you have ever known

Perhaps you are happy with your hourly rate and your terms but want to increase your customer base. The new year is the perfect excuse to get in touch with everyone you have ever known! Wish them a happy new year and remind them about your services and let them know how happy last year’s clients were. Don’t leave this until you aren’t busy. As you know, it can take months for a project to come to fruition, and there’s no harm in getting the wheels turning right away.

4. Befriend your competition

As a freelancer, your competition can actually enhance your business. If you work in tandem with someone who has similar skills to you, then you can pass over work to each other and essentially grow as a business – perhaps even co-branded. Similarly, someone who you perceive to be a competitor might actually have different strengths, meaning that a partnership whereby each of you takes on a different role (one copy-editor and one content editor, for example) might actually help you to expand.

5. Sort out your website

Your website is your shop window. Even if you mainly work on print projects, your prospective customers will judge you by your site. Do you have a brand? Is it modern enough? Can you find examples of client projects and is it easy to contact you? All of these things are basic and can be achieved much more cheaply than you might expect. Experiment with templates until you are happy with your design, or hire a professional to make sure you are set to impress.

6. Meet people in person

The benefit of freelancing is that you can work from the comfort of your own home. However, meeting people in the flesh can really boost your business by helping you to promote yourself and your business and by keeping you abreast of what’s happening in the industry. BookMachine events are a good starting point. [As are SfEP local groups – Ed.]

7. Join an organisation

If you join an organisation and commit to attending events and participating in forums, you have the added impetus to do so. As co-founder of BookMachine, my interest here is in letting you know that as an SfEP member, you get £10 off an annual ‘Promoted BookMachine Membership’ (see the BookMachine page in the Members’ area of the SfEP website for details). This gives you free access to all BookMachine events and most book fairs too. Conversely, as a BookMachine member, you would get a waiver of the SfEP’s member admin fee, saving you £32 on your first year’s membership. Please drop us a line to take up either offer.

8. Learn to say no

Finally, if you are in the habit of taking whatever work you can get, then stop it. It makes sense in year 1, when you are establishing your credentials and building a list of testimonials. After that, if a job doesn’t pay enough or you don’t find it interesting, then just turn it down. Your time is your most precious commodity so don’t settle for less, and make 2017 the year you get what you are worth.

Laura Summers is co-founder of BookMachine – the community for people who make publishing happen. As well as organising events for the industry, BookMachine manage an online network of professionals sharing advice and knowledge. Laura and her team are also available to manage events, business development and marketing projects for small and mid-sized publishers.

Welcome to the latest SfEP wise owls blog. This month, the owls provide advice on continuing professional development for experienced proofreaders and copy-editors.

The team would like to take this opportunity to invite you to support our nomination for the 2017 UK blog awards. The public vote is open until Monday 19th December and you can vote for the SfEP blog via the UK blog awards website. We hope you have enjoyed reading about the SfEP and its members in the blog and would appreciate your support!

Hazel Bird
If you’re feeling on top of your game with your editorial skills, consider improving your knowledge of the fields you edit and the conventions those fields use. For example, if you edit fiction, take a creative writing course. Or, if you edit history, attend a webinar, read a book that challenges you, or consider a course or qualification. You can also attend subject-specific conferences or join discussion groups on social media such as Facebook. The more you know about your specialist fields (or the fields you want to specialise in), the better you’ll be able to tap into how your clients think, what they want from you as an editor and what conventions their field will expect them to follow.

Melanie Thompson
Sometimes the best CPD comes from unexpected places. A long time ago I did a brief stint as a school governor. I was sent on a short training course, and I learned a lot from that about working in teams, understanding more about how schools tick, and – crucially – things about curriculum development and changes in teaching methods. A few years later I attended a “maths for parents” evening class at my son’s infant school and learned some handy new mental maths techniques. Fast forward to 2016 and I went along to a parents’ forum at my son’s (senior) school, where the discussion topic was “use of IT in classrooms”, especially ebooks and students’ use of tablet computers. All these lessons popped into my mind during a session on education publishing at this year’s SfEP conference, and continue to inform my approach to working in that sector.

John Espirian
Invest time in learning how to improve your website and how you can apply basic SEO to stand out. There are a million and one podcasts about digital marketing techniques. Listen to them while walking, driving, cooking, whatever. Even if only a tiny bit of that knowledge sticks, it will likely put you ahead of a lot of people who don’t know the first thing about optimising and promoting their online presence.

Answering questions on LinkedIn, Facebook and especially the SfEP forums will help you realise where you’re strong. Can you answer every question you come across? If not, what areas are you weak in? Why not deep-dive on those? How much of the SfEP’s own editorial syllabus do you know inside out?

Sue Littleford
Lack of money doesn’t mean you have to forego learning. These are all free of charge. Explore the world of MOOCs (massive online open courses) as a free way of developing your subject, editorial or business knowledge (e.g. from FutureLearn, and Oxford University is offering its first MOOC from February), and use HMRC’s free webinars and videos to make sure you’re on top of your self-assessment, and claiming the right business expenses. Keep up with tech changes. Each month pick one, say, Word function you struggle with and master it. Don’t waste your time fighting with your software – find a YouTube video to help you use it and sign up to the WordTips emails for daily or weekly emails and access to a library of tips. Join the macros SfEP forum to get an insight into how people use macros to save time and improve effectiveness, and get support as you try things out. Apply the same approach to other software you use.

Margaret Hunter
I’ve found that a good way to sharpen up my understanding of what it is that I’m doing is to think about how I explain the process to clients, especially non-publisher ones. Over the years I’ve written (and rewritten!) mini guides to help my clients, for example what happens during copy-editing and proofreading, and a checklist of things for self-publishing authors to think about. I’ve also put together business documents I need or find helpful, such as terms and conditions, a services contract, style sheet and queries templates, and the like. Thinking about how you explain your business to others could help you identify any gaps in your knowledge (go fill them!) and enable you to sharpen up your working practices to become more professional.

At the time of publication, there are only 48 days until Christmas. While everyone else is concerned with buying presents, spending time with relatives they don’t like, and how to avoid getting food poisoning from an undercooked turkey, freelancers also have to organise taking time off during the holidays. As an early Christmas present, the SfEP parliament has wrapped up their advice on how to take guilt-free time off over the Christmas period.

My advice? Banish the guilt! Isn’t freedom to work when we choose one of the reasons we go freelance? Why then do we burden ourselves with guilt when we do just that? The only thing we should worry about is making sure we do what we have promised to do by the time we promised to do it. Give yourself permission to reject a job if it will mean working when you don’t want to.

So, unless you actively choose to work over Christmas (and there are plenty of good reasons you might wish to do so), block the time off in your schedule and resolutely say no to taking on a project that would mean working over your holiday period. Close your office door, switch off your phone, and go and enjoy your family and friends, your food and wine, your Christmas walk (just me?), and your rest. Return to your work when you choose to, knowing you’ll be all the better at it for having relaxed and refreshed yourself. And banish that guilt!

Remember that your time is as valuable as anyone else’s, and you have a right to take holidays. You can’t do your best work if you’re over-tired and feeling put-upon, so give yourself a break. Plan definite work-free time in advance – block it out as you would any other project, on your calendar or in your diary. Tell all the people you need to tell that you’re taking this time off, and stick to it as you would any other professional commitment. Christmas is easier than some other holiday periods because most offices either shut down completely or are very nearly empty, with little sense of urgency. If you waver in your resolve, just remember that most clients won’t expect you to be working flat out at this time anyway, and email traffic is likely to reduce. For a total break it can be wonderful to stay offline completely for a few days (no email, no social media) … if you have the self-control!

Try to decide a few months in advance which days you are taking off work. Write HOLIDAY in your calendar in big letters so it takes thought and effort to cross it out. If you can, fit a few more projects, or better paying ones, into the months leading up to your break so you’re not worrying about earning when you should be taking time out. Tell your clients when you’ll be ‘away’ and that you won’t be responding to emails during that time. When your holiday finally comes around, don’t check your email, steer clear of social media, and if you think of something work related that needs doing, make a list, tuck it under your keyboard and walk away.

Taking a whole week or two off a couple of times a year is really important – especially in the dark winter months. You’ll come back refreshed and enthusiastic, keen to get back to your routine, and you’ll be more productive.

Plan the calendar well ahead. If you book up your work time in, say, two-week blocks, then book your Christmas time off three or more weeks ahead. That way, you won’t let work dominate the holidays. A general life lesson is to plan the fun stuff first and then the work to fit around it. That’s why most of us are freelancers, after all – freedom.

I always know I’m going to be doing the cooking, so can be sure that I won’t be working when I’m spending time in the kitchen. But I actually love that. If there are young kids around, plan to get them involved with the prep so that the whole thing doesn’t feel like a chore.

Send clients Christmas cards with a reminder of when you’ll be back at work. Could lead to more business! Always be top of mind.

Decide on something nice / creative / challenging you want to do during your time off. Get out that sewing project that’s been on hold; sort out your photo albums; plan an overnight long hike. Anything that’s going to make you feel good and less guilty about not working.

Theoretically, taking time off at Christmas is easy if you plan it in advance and tell those contacts who need to know. But, in practice, existing work can end up spilling into our well-earned down-time, or lucrative offers can tempt us back to our desks. To prevent work spilling over, consider taking on slightly less work just prior to your break so you can be sure you’ll get it done in time, even if it takes a bit longer than expected. As to being tempted to take on new work, plan in advance what you’d say if you received an offer and what rates you would charge to justify giving up your planned break. Maybe there’s no fee that would make it worth it – but even coming to that conclusion could help to fortify you against tempting offers.

There are laws to protect the holiday rights of employees, but no equivalent for freelancers. That means you have to police yourself. Everyone needs a break. Plan yours well in advance; tell your clients you’ll be ‘out of the office from x to y’. (They don’t need to know why unless you want to tell them.)

The number one benefit of being a freelancer is the freedom to decide what is right for you.

Downtime is essential for your health and well-being. No guilt required. To ensure you take time off, you need to commit, and commit early. Mark the time off in your planner. When offered a job with a due date on the far side of your break, double-check that the timescale is feasible. One client’s software regurgitates a due date based on word count, ignoring all bank holidays, so I get the date extended. Reject any job that has a due date during your planned break so you don’t try to squeeze it in and finish it early – if you fail, you end up working, stressed and resentful.

As I write this, I’m nearly deluged in paid work. I said ‘yes!’ to clients about three times more than I should have. My bank account will be very happy in about six weeks, but in the meantime I’m getting up early, squeezing in work everywhere, skipping exercise, deferring personal appointments, and drinking extra coffee.

In the 20 years I have been freelancing, I have noticed that it is very hard to say no. I’ve noticed it with colleagues, too, and my theory is this: as freelancers, we train ourselves to say yes because yes = paycheck. When we started out, we probably said yes to everything because we were desperate for work, eager to expand our client base, excited to learn new things, and appreciative of the income. Publishing seems to be a woman-dominated field (at least in editorial), and women often tend to be people pleasers, which can lead to a yes when a no would be better.

When we say yes a lot, it can feel good! Gratification: we made someone happy. Security: work is coming in, money will be earned. Pride: look how much I got done! Too many yeses lead to a feast of work, with concomitant stress. Our bodies, our schedules, our families, and even our friends suffer when we do nothing but work. A feast portion is all too often followed by a famine portion. We’re briefly grateful for a break, a rest, some recovery, but then we start to panic about lack of work… so we start drumming up more business, saying yes to lots more things, and then we’re back in the feast portion again.

The problem is, these vicious circles of stress and panic are not healthy, and they are not sustainable in the long run. For full-time freelancers, this is almost certainly not the lifestyle you envisioned.

There are many steps, tools, and techniques for reclaiming your life and business. In this post, I offer a key one: start saying no. It may seem counterintuitive, and it may feel almost physically uncomfortable to get the words out, but it’s the simplest thing you can do.

Check your instinct to immediately say yes to everything and everyone (and that includes personal requests, like tea with friends or dinner out). Give each request – appointment, social event, client project – some careful thought. Is it coming at a time when you already have plenty of work? Are you already overloaded, or will the schedule free up? Is it work that you truly want to do, or something that’s not quite in your core skills and interests (e.g. proofreading when you really do developmental editing). Think about what you truly want in your life – are you missing time for hobbies, time with family, or even just relaxing? Haven’t taken a vacation in a long time? Reclaim your sanity by saying no as needed.

The tough part is saying no without feeling guilty, without softening it with a lengthy apology or explanation. Remember: ‘No’ is a complete sentence. Loyal clients will know they can come back to you and may even ask when you are available.

When you say no to the things that don’t serve you – that overload your schedule, that aren’t in your core business, that are just a chore and not an opportunity – you will free up time and energy for the things that do serve you. That alone can shape your business in exciting new ways, opening more doors than you ever thought possible.

Laura Poole (Twitter: @lepoole) started her full-time freelance business in 1997. She edits exclusively for scholarly university presses. She started training editors in 2009 with privately run workshops. In 2015, she joined with Erin Brenner to become the co-owner of Copyediting, for which she is also the Director of Training. She loves Jelly Babies.

Booking for our 2016 conference, ‘Let’s Talk About Text’, closes on Friday 8 July. At the time of writing there are only a handful of non-resident places left, so if you don’t want to miss out, book now!

I’ve been invited to present in a ‘Speed start-up: what newbies need to know’ session at the SfEP conference in September on the subject of pricing work, alongside Sue Littleford (Numbers for word people) and Louise Harnby (Banishing the marketing heebie-jeebies). Here’s a taster of my section of the session.

Pricing editorial work comes up time and again in discussion between editors. In the session I’m going to look at the basic process of quoting for work, which can be applied across a range of situations. The same principles can also be used to work out if a fixed fee offered by a client is fair.

Assess the information provided about the work

The client should provide you with the project parameters, including extent or word count, schedule, level of editing required, and so on. They might suggest a price, or they might ask you to quote.

Ask for more information if you need it

You can’t accurately price work without adequate information and a sample of the text. If the client will not provide the information you need to price the work, proceed with caution!

Work out what your work is worth

To work out a price for the work, you can take the hourly rate you need/want to earn, multiply it by the length of time you estimate the job will take, and add on contingency to arrive at a total fee. Alternatively you can quote what you think the work is worth to the client. Other factors can influence the figure, such as the particular market, or the time frame allowed for the work.

Use data from previous projects/colleagues to help you

To enable you to estimate how long a job will take, it is essential to keep records of work you do. If you are asked to quote for work unlike anything you have done, you can ask colleagues for advice – for example, in the SfEP forums.

Prepare a quote, making clear what it covers

When you provide a price, you should also indicate what this price includes. For many publishers, this will be fairly straightforward, as they are likely to be commissioning you for a commonly understood part of the process such as copy-editing or proofreading. For a non-publisher, you will need to ensure they know precisely what they are getting for their money, and importantly what is not included.

Prepare to negotiate

If your client suggests a price, don’t be afraid to ask for more if you think the work warrants it; equally, if you suggest a price, be prepared for the client trying to negotiate down.

Agree terms with the client, and start work

Make sure you have the agreed price and the scope of work in writing before you start work. If anything changes that might affect the price, raise this with your client as soon as possible.

In the session I’ll be looking in more detail at each of the stages – with particular focus on working out what the job is worth – and taking questions. There will also be a handout with further information and links to resources to help you at each stage of the process.

Sue, Louise and I will be presenting on Monday, 12 September 2016, between 1.30 and 2.30 p.m. I hope to see you there!

Liz Jones has been an editor since 1998, and full-time freelance since 2008; she is an Advanced Professional Member of the SfEP. She specialises in trade non-fiction, fiction and educational publishing, but also works with a range of business clients and individuals. When not editing she writes fiction, and also blogs about editing and freelancing at Eat Sleep Edit Repeat.